We have our time. We have our place—our generation, in the21st century, in America. I did not think we were worthy of a calling to sainthood. How were we living before the pandemic hit? What were we doing? It was like we were living on a crazy treadmill: moving so fast, going everywhere, doing everything, buying everything, needing everything, involved in every activity, spending our money, spending our time, going so fast, not turning back, not resting, never turning off the lights, never being quiet, never being together with our family, forgetting to take time to eat a meal together around our table. We were living at an unbelievable pace.

And then God called us to stop.

He has given us a cross that I never thought we would be worthy to bear. The cross of a worldwide pandemic—it is our generation’s calling…Our lives are not the same as they were just some months ago. Since these changes occurred, what do we miss the most? That is probably the most important question we need to ask ourselves. When this is all over, what part of our lives do we really want to get back to? Is it getting up before dawn, going to the gym at 6:00 and getting to work by 7:00? Is it eating a donut on the train during our two-hour commute? Is it getting home tired after work, picking up kids at daycare, taking them to music lessons, having supper, telling them to do their schoolwork before putting them to bed, and then starting all over? Do you miss shopping? For what? Filling your closets that are already so full?

So, what is it that we really miss? Ask yourself this question because it can give an indication of your life, where it was going and where you want it
to go from now on.

– Mother Christophora of the Monastery of the Transfiguration, ‘Life Transfigured’